Gentleman [ Taste & Manners / Politics & Society ]
… to shopkeepers, professionals and some skilled artisans. They were literate, and many were aspirational, eager for public recognition to match their financial success. One way of achieving this was through claiming gentlemanly status … who were supposedly their superiors. In 1774, for example, there was a strong adverse response to the posthumous publication of Lord Chesterfield’s (1694-1773) Letters to his Son (composed between 1737 and 1768). Chesterfield’s … century accounted for up to 10 per cent. of its pages. Although some were composed by the editors or lifted from other publications, most were submitted by relatives and associates of the deceased. They therefore reflect the social …
Benevolence | Middling sort | Politeness | Rank
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